Daytona State College will commemorate Black History Month in February with a variety of activities, highlighted by a series of rare films featuring African-American filmmakers to be shown in the Southeast Museum of Photography’s Madorsky Theater on the Daytona Beach Campus, 1200 W. International Speedway Blvd. 
First Fight. Then Fiddle. Black Identity in American Cinema 1920 -2016 showcases films from the new collection Pioneers of African-American Cinema, a series of works by black filmmakers focusing on race issues that went unaddressed by Hollywood for decades. The series will continue with new showings through mid-April.
First Fight. Then Fiddle was curated by DSC photography professor Eric Breitenbach, who noted, “These films are rare and remarkable. Very few people are aware that they even exist, and our spring series marks the first time they will be screened in the Central Florida area.”
Each film in the series will be introduced by a Daytona State faculty member, and be followed by a question-and-answer session. All films begin at 6 p.m. and are closed captioned whenever possible. Admission is free and open to the public.
The series line-up is as follows:
- Feb. 1 – 13th A documentary (100 minutes); directed by Ava DuVernay, 2016
- Feb. 15 – Screen Snapshots (1 minute); Within Our Gates (79 minutes); directed by Oscar Micheaux, 1920, silent
- Feb. 22 – Two Knights of Vaudeville (11 minutes); Ten Nights in a Bar Room (64 minutes); directed by Ray Calnek, 1926, silent
- March 1 – Rev. S.S. Jones Home Movies (16 minutes); Symbol of the Unconquered – A Story of the Ku Klux Klan (59 minutes); directed by Oscar Micheaux, 1920, silent
- March 8 – The Scar of Shame (86 minutes); directed by Frank Perugini,1929
- March 22 – Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution (195 minutes); directed by Stanley Nelson
- March 29 – Selma (127 minutes); directed by Ava DuVernay, 2015
- April 5 – 4 Little Girls (102 minutes); directed by Spike Lee, 1997
- April 12 – Welcome to Pine Hill (81 minutes); directed by Keith Miller, 2012
- April 19 – Bamboozled (135 minutes); directed by Spike Lee, 2000
For more information on the films, contact Breitenbach, (386) 506-3542, or museum director James Pearson, (386) 506-3350.
In addition, the public is invited to a free Black History Day event hosted by DSC’s Co-Curricular Activities Department on Wednesday, Feb. 22, in the Student Landing on the Daytona Beach Campus from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will feature music and presentations on African-American history and culture.
Also, the college’s African-American Student Union is planning one commemorative event a week during February. Details will be posted on the college’s website, DaytonaState.edu.
